Florida DT Dominique Easley injures knee in practice

GAINESVILLE | Just three days after losing its starting quarterback, No. 20 Florida may have lost its best defensive lineman for the season.

Defensive tackle Dominique Easley hurt his right knee in a non-contact drill during practice on Tuesday, Gators coach Will Muschamp said.

Muschamp revealed the news during his weekly Southeastern Conference teleconference Wednesday. The severity of the injury isn’t known at this time.

“It was a non-contact. He was planting to run on a screen and just tweaked it a little bit. We think he’ll be fine,” Muschamp said. “Yeah, we just need more information right now. We’re going through that process at this time.”

Easley suffered a torn left anterior cruciate ligament against Florida State to close out the 2011 regular season. Easley missed the Gator Bowl win against Penn State.

He fueled rumors of a potential season-ending injury with a tweet sent Wednesday: “Gatornation thank you for all of 4 yrs of sticking with me but god has something else planned for and have no worries #believe”

Through three games this season, Easley ranks second on the team with two tackles for loss. He’s been instrumental in the development of other lineman like sophomore Dante Fowler Jr., who forced two fumbles against Tennessee on Saturday.

Fowler thanked Easley after the game for the double teams he drew away from Fowler.

“Dominique is a guy that has a great motor [and] great enthusiasm as you can see on the field. I think that’s a contagious thing,” defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin said. “I think he’s been very disruptive to many teams in the backfield. He plays the game the way we want guys to play on defense.”

Durkin described the injury as occurring while Easley tried running down a screen pass. If Easley is lost for the season, he would be the sixth player to go down with a season-ending injury.